Rich Hofmann

DAILY NEWS SPORTS EDITOR

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Miles to go yet, obviously. But Michael Vick gave Andy Reid and the Eagles everything they needed in his first game since being anointed the team's starting quarterback.

Against the godawful Jacksonville Jaguars, Vick was persistent and he was good. He stayed in the pocket and he dealt with the pressure and he delivered the ball in the first half -- and then he did the highlight reel stuff in the second half, completing a 45-yard touchdown strike to Jeremy Maclin up the left sideline, an efforless 42-yard flick off of his back foot to DeSean Jackson after that, and then scoring himself on a 17-yard scramble.

The final score -- Eagles 28, Jaguars 3 -- pretty accurately reflected the happenings. And now the Eagles will bring a 2-1 record and some momentum into the return of Donovan McNabb next Sunday to Lincoln Financial Field.

For the game, here were Vick's numbers: 17-for-31 for 291 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT. His quarterback rating was 119.2. Much of the first half, though, was a bit understated. Other than one throw -- a 61-yard touchdown strike to Jackson -- neither Vick nor the Eagles' offense could get much traction against the Jaguars. It was the kind of first 28 minutes that left you shrugging, for the most part, and wondering a little what all of this Vick-for-Kevin Kolb commotion was about.

But then came a nice 53-yard 2-minute drill to close the half. It featured a 22-yard completion to tight end Brent Celek on third-and-8, a play when the pass protection held up against a Jacksonville blitz. The touchdown came on a 16-yard pass to Maclin, a play in which Vick had all day and Maclin worked his way back to Vick from the back of the end zone to the goal line, dancing perilously close to the sideline as he did.

So it was 14-3 at the half. The long strike to Maclin made it 21-3, and then Vick's 17-yard scramble made it 28-3. That left all of us to deal with an entire fourth quarter of garbage time, and to wonder if Reid would bring Kolb off of the bench to get a little work at the end. He didn't.